A mother and daughter have been working on communication skills for the past few weeks. We’d worked through “I statements” (don’t talk about the other person, talk about yourself) which eliminated much of the assumptions, blaming and escalation. Now we’re working on feelings....
This morning my ex-husband called to let me know his grandmother had died. I met her seventeen years ago when she still lived on her own in Chicago. At that time she was a spry, sharp woman clothed in bright colors and chunky...
“Life will break you. Nobody can protect you from that, and living alone won’t either, for solitude will also break you with its yearning. You have to love. You have to feel. It is the reason you are here on earth....
“Oh Amy, you don’t understand how bad my life really is. If you did you wouldn’t believe in change; you wouldn’t have hope for me.” I hear some version of this sentiment at least once a week. When I started as a...
“‘You have been telling the people that this is the Eleventh Hour, now you must go back and tell the people that this is the Hour. And there are things to be considered...
As I’m walking a family out to the waiting room the front door bursts open and a friend announces I’ve left the dome light on in my car. It’s late in the afternoon and I haven’t driven since early that morning; it was a...
“I’m looking for someone I can really count on. I want to be able to call anytime and know they’ll be there. It doesn’t have to be a romantic partner, in fact, I’d rather if be a best friend.” Woman in her 50’s “I...
“It is always darkest just before the dawn” is a quote often shared during difficult times. Recently I became curious; where did this quote originate? Apparently the oldest reference is Thomas Fuller in 1650, although it’s not clear if he wrote it or...
As a child I always hated marigolds. That orange color, the pungent smell, their little spiky leaves—nothing about them appealed to me. I can still picture the sparse little bursts of color in clay pots on our patio that, no matter how much...
Sondra worked hard the past five years to make significant changes in her life. Working at a daycare center and attending class at night she went back to school and finished her Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry. She decided she wanted to become a...
